4.16.2009

The Post About Selfish Is As Selfish Does

Being late is selfish. I need this embroidered on a pillow. I'm never more frustrated in life than when I become late due to someone else being late. Corrected...due to someone else being selfish.

It was explained to me like this. When we are late, we make a conscious or unconscious decision that our time is more valuable than anyone else's. I use "we," because I'm not immune to this self-involvement. It usually involves this:

Now you might assume it's the snooze button, but that's not really the problem. It's the switch two rows back. I'm notorious for simply turning the alarm off. My intent is to get up, but upon rolling to the right and seeing the side table, my eye catches Sammy, the Samsung. And suddenly, my cyber-addicted self is facebooking and twittering and googling and emailing - all while wrapped in a cozy duvet. What I think might take less than 9 minutes (the length of my snooze) ends up taking half an hour.

Then some choices are made for me:
  • Extra deodorant (not bath) since that will save 8 minutes.
  • Knit (not cotton) since a wet washcloth and a hot dryer can straighten out all of life's wrinkles.
  • Weather blog (not Al Roker) since I can drive and read at the same time. I can.
  • Waffle (not cereal) since it can ride in the car.
Are you selfish?

15 comments:

  1. Reggie one time commented on it was nice that I wasn't late as much as I used to be. I commented back that it had nothing to do with me being a better person. It had to do with the fact I was going to kill the next person that said anything about me being late. I prefer to be on time. Being early for me is the same as being late. Early is selfish also.

    And besides I am never late. I arrive precisely when I plan to.

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  2. Late = Selfish. That's so true.
    I've earned that more and more as I've gotten older. Do I still run late? Sometimes. Does it bug me when others are late and it effects me? Big Time.

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  3. OK, so I should edit my comments more closely before submitting. That should say "learned" not "earned"

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  4. I'm late... uhm... alot.

    But I DO make amends. And I pay people back in a timely fashion without being reminded, so that's a trade, riiiight?

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  5. I didn't know you were a wizard, Joseph.

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  6. My dad taught me to be 15 minutes early to everything. So I rarely ever run into this particular issue. I hate the thought of people waiting on me.

    Not that I'm perfect, I'm selfish in other ways -- I don't share food, for example.

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  7. J: I agree that people who are early are slightly evil too.
    Sa: Sometimes we ration out our selfishness...

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  8. Isn't it just as selfish to get mad about that person's lateness affecting you? That would mean you think your time is more valuable than the person that is late. Correct? Maybe both are selfish. I'm just saying.

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  9. K: That sounded a teeny weeny bit like a rationalization. And I can pick out a rationalization in any lineup.

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  10. You must admit though, it's true. Jesus would never leave someone that's late. Once again, just sayin'. :-) I'm rarely late anymore, so I'm really just speaking on behalf of Ben and the old me.

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  11. I have to agree with Kristi though...

    It's selfish either way you look at it, unless you're not involved.

    But, I hate to be late and I hate it when everyone else is late. Late was the story of my life growing up, and it was never ever my fault. Then I got off to college and was always on time. Then I married someone who has absolutely no concept of time, and I'm back to being late through no fault of my own. It's just not going to change unless we drive two cars (which is what we started doing to church).

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  12. And a lot of the time, if I know a group is going to lolligag around *coughrandycough* before we do something, I'll intentionally be late. Just sitting is not high on my to do list. Also, because of condescending looks I get when I show up late sometimes, I just don't show up at all. It's stops being worth going when it puts me in a bad mood for the rest of the time I'm there, ya know?

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  13. I have contemplated leaving Ben before but I decided not to. :-) And I understand the not going at all thing. I've felt that way before.

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  14. You know Jesus showed up late several times in the Bible (Lazarus, Jairus' daughter)
    Thus speaketh the prophet.

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  15. And I like to think Jesus might have killed the next person that complained about him being late. Nah.

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